Finally something is being done
On the state level things aren’t so good. Open carry is still the rule of the day across most of the United States, and in Florida Ron DeSantis is creating his own paramilitary organisation answerable only to him. But on the national level Nancy Pelosi has announced a concerted effort to start down the long road of banning assault weapons and instituting measures to keep guns of all kinds out of the hands of disturbed extremists.
House Democratic leaders have scheduled a vote next week on so-called “red flag” legislation that is designed to keep certain kinds of weapons from potentially violent people. The House Judiciary Committee is also meeting in an emergency session today to mark up a slate of eight additional anti-gun violence bills, including proposals to ban high-capacity magazines and raise the age for purchasing certain semi-automatic rifles.
Pelosi said Democrats will also be considering legislation designed to better warn the public during active shooter situations. “And then, as we get through those, we will be having a hearing and marking up the assault weapon ban,” she said. “So we just are trying to hit it every possible way.”
It goes without saying that any advances made now will be summarily dismantled beginning in January of 2023 should the Republicans retake the House and Senate in November. So it’s vitally important that we win in November.
Fortunately Republicans have been doing everything in their power to help us. Between the leaked plan for SCOTUS to repeal Roe v. Wade and the boneheaded, toxic and unpopular responses most Republicans made to the recent shooting in Uvalde, Texas, our chances of keeping the House and Senate have been vastly improved.
The cry from Republicans that “they’re coming for our guns” is their weak and timorous reply. My thought on the whole thing is, “What’s wrong with that?” I am hardly unique, an American living in Britain, but rare enough to occasionally remind people how thoroughly wonderful it is to live in a vIrtually gun-free society.
Britain is also a place where politicians get in immediate trouble for merely partying. So you really can live in a democracy without guns and without fear that, because you don’t have guns, the government will turn into a tyranny. That is an illusion that is easily disproved by observing Britain in action.
Maybe it’s time to repeal the Second Amendment. That might be something worth thinking about. I’m tired of arguing the obvious to gun nuts, that a barely 18 year old inadequate fool doesn’t constitute a “well-regulated militia.” If we removed the whole notion of the right to bear arms never being infringed from the language of the Constitution, the whole problem would go away overnight.
In the meantime, the Speaker of the House has the right idea. And if they never are able to go any farther than background checks and removing obvious militarily murder weapons from the terrifying American arsenal it will be a huge improvement. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.